Sona robocalls proceedings begin, adjourned to May 31

An undated handout photo of for Conservative Party worker Michael Sona, left, is seen with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. A Guelph justice of the peace adjourned Election Act proceedings against Sona until May 31, 2013

GUELPH, Ont. — Two years after thousands of voters received misleading phone calls on election day, legal proceedings against the only person charged in the robocalls scandal began in a Guelph courtroom Friday morning.

But it will likely be many more months before the case against former Conservative campaign worker Michael Sona, 24, goes to trial.

Justice of the Peace Walter Rojek agreed on Friday to adjourn the single Election Act charge against Sona until May 31. Adjournments are routine at the beginning of legal proceedings.

No plea was entered before the court and no trial date has been set.

Crown David Doney told the court that disclosure of evidence against Sona had been made to his legal counsel.

Rojek said counsel could address any issues related to disclosure at the next court date. Sona was represented in court by Guelph lawyer Matthew Stanley, who was filling in for Sona’s Ottawa lawyer, Norm Boxall, at the brief hearing.

Stanley had previously acted for another Guelph Conservative campaign worker, Andrew Prescott, in his dealings with Elections Canada investigators. Prescott is not charged with any offences. Outside the courtroom, Stanley would not comment when asked by reporters if he still represents Prescott.

Sona is charged under the Canada Elections Act with preventing or trying to prevent an elector from voting in the May 2, 2011, election. He was not required to attend his first appearance on the charge and did not come to court Friday.

Beginning around 10 a.m. on election day, Guelph residents began receiving pre-recorded messages, purportedly from Elections Canada, that directed them to the wrong polling location.

Sona was serving as director of communications on the campaign of Guelph Conservative candidate Marty Burke at the time.

Guelph Conservatives have been under scrutiny since Election Canada investigators found evidence linking the calls to an Internet address believed to have belonged to Burke’s campaign headquarters.

In a series of media interviews earlier this year, Sona vigorously denied any involvement in the calls and insisted that he is not “Pierre Poutine,” the pseudonym used by whoever placed the 7,600 calls using an Edmonton voice broadcasting company.

When the charge was laid against Sona last month, Boxall issued a statement describing his client as a “single individual who held a junior position on a single campaign and who clearly lacked the resources and access to the data required to make the robocalls.”

Sona worked for Mississauga Conservative MP Eve Adams when news of an active Elections Canada investigation in Guelph broke last year. He resigned from his job immediately after the Conservative-friendly Sun News Network identified him in connection to the calls. He later claimed he was made a scapegoat by the party.

The party’s reaction to the charge against Sona — it issued a press release saying it was pleased with Elections Canada’s progress — reportedly prompted Burke and others to leave the board of the Conservative riding association in Guelph.

Elections Canada has said it is continuing to investigate the robocalls in Guelph.

A second, broader investigation into 1,400 complaints about live and recorded phone calls in ridings across the country is continuing.

The Conservative government had planned to introduce legislative reforms to deal with robocalls but postponed them when, last month, caucus members expressed concern about some of the proposed changes.

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An undated handout photo of for Conservative Party worker Michael Sona, left, is seen with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. A Guelph justice of the peace adjourned Election Act proceedings against Sona until May 31, 2013

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